I call this a “critical occultism” reading list because of its emphasis on the application of critical theory to occult topics. It is particularly aimed toward occultists who desire a different kind of understanding of their path, one that is rarely addressed by many occultist reading lists currently in circulation.
Nothing will be added to this list unless I have personally read it and consider it valuable enough to be included. Some of these sources concern disciplines that you may not consider directly connected to the occult. Others will contradict each other, or appear under multiple headings. This is normal. Part of critical thinking is making up your own mind.
Anthroposophy, Spiritualism, Theosophy, etc.
“Spiritualist Signal and Theosophical Noise” by Paul Manning (2018)
Feminism
“Gender, Mind and Body: Feminism and Psychoanalysis” by Katharine Hodgkin in Palgrave Advances in Witchcraft Historiography, edited by Jonathan Barry and Owen Davies (2007)
Islam
“Dreams from a Saint: Anthropological Atheism and the Temptation to Believe” by Katherine P. Ewing (1994)
“Negotiating Boundaries: American Sufis” by Gisela Webb in The Cambridge Companion to American Islam, edited by Juliane Hammer and Omid Safi (2013)
Neoshamanism
“Shamanism and Magic” by Michael York in Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. Berger (2005)
New Age
“New Age and Magic” by Michael York in Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. Berger (2005)
Paganism
“Witchcraft and Neopaganism” by Helen A. Berger in Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. Berger (2005)
Science
“Six Signs of Scientism” by Susan Haack (2012)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (2nd ed.) by Thomas S. Kuhn (1970)
Witchcraft
Palgrave Advances in Witchcraft Historiography edited by Jonathan Barry and Owen Davies (2007)
A Razor for a Goat: A Discussion of Certain Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism by Elliot Rose (1989)
“Witchcraft and Neopaganism” by Helen A. Berger in Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. Berger (2005)
Last edited May 6, 2021